weston public schools k-12 guidance/counseling program ...€¦ · implementation plan that...

Weston Public Schools

K-12 Guidance/Counseling Program

Self-Study Report

May 2019

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Table of Contents

Table of Contents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Self-Study 4

Process . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Comprehensive School Counseling 6

Organizational Structure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Activity/Time Analysis 12

Direct Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

Elementary 14

Secondary 15

Reflections on Direct Services 18

504 Case Management 20

Indirect Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

District-Wide – All Levels 22

Level-Specific Engagement 24

Reflections on Indirect Services 25

Meeting Student Needs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

Support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

Resources 32

Professional Development 33

Guiding Questions for the External Team . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

Bibliography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

NOTE: Unless noted, highlighted quotes and graphical data throughout this report are taken from student, parent, faculty and counselor surveys from the self-study phase.

Guidance Program Review Self-Study Report | 2

Introduction Weston school counselors are dedicated professionals who care deeply about the well-being, growth and success of all Weston students. They have diverse life experiences and professional expertise in mental health and counseling upon which to draw. All hold licensure in either School Counseling or Adjustment Counseling and many counselors have professional experiences outside of education. There is a high level of collaboration between counselors, and with teachers and administrators. School counselors are often considered “connective tissue” to a school – building connections and taking the “pulse” of the perceptions of students, faculty and staff. Counselors provide subtle but important feedback to building administrators, serve on leadership teams and act as advocates for change that supports student needs.

School counselors in Weston are also engaged professionally. They are members of professional organizations such as the American School Counselor Association (ASCA) and the Massachusetts School Counselor Association (MASCA). In addition, the high school is represented at a regional counseling

group with the TEC Collaborative (currently co-chairing) and the department head at the Guidance Administrators Forum (30+ department heads from neighboring districts), where they are able to discuss issues common to their schools. On their own, counselors at every level seek out ways to improve their work and some have joined online counseling resource groups that share useful information and resources.

Weston’s public schools are lucky to have community support for counseling and programs that support students beyond academics. Parents are informed

and appreciate the complexity of social and emotional pressures, as well as their impact on students’ achievement. At the high school, surveys have been done that show a high level of stress and anxiety (Challenge Success, Student Life Survey and Weston Youth Health Assessment). Stress levels at the high school remain fairly constant from year to year, with close to 80% of WHS students describing their lives as somewhat or very stressful. (Social Science Research and Evaluation, Inc.,2017, p. 24). Young students show increasing anxiety as well. Issues with social media are ever more prevalent. There is a district commitment to supporting the whole child, with one of its strategic objectives to “foster students’ well-being.” Initiatives such as Responsive Classroom, Challenge Success, mindfulness, and Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) make Weston a supportive environment for the work of school counselors.


Students are engaged and strive to succeed. School counselors work hard to build trusting relationships with their students. Their philosophy is grounded in a growth mindset. Students differ from one another in their capabilities, aptitudes, interests, needs, goals and values, and counselors believe that all can succeed. Their work at the elementary, middle and high school levels varies to support the developmental needs of the students. Whatever the school level, counselors are committed to supporting and assisting students as they acquire the tools and knowledge they need to make healthy and informed decisions, explore opportunities, and live successful and fulfilling lives. When asking seniors upon graduation to reflect on their school years (Naviance 2016-18), 95% report feeling welcome in the counseling office, something that counselors are sure is reflected at every level.

Self-Study As the first step in the Comprehensive Program Review of Weston Public School’s district-wide Guidance/Counseling Program, counselors conducted an extensive in-depth self-assessment and review of practice. This self-study will guide the focus for an external review committee visit in 2019-20. The final phase of the Review will be completed when counselors respond to the external review, developing an implementation plan that addresses proposed enhancements to the counseling program.

The self-study work had the input of an oversight committee, which included representative counselors, teachers and administrators from every level. All eleven K-12 school counselors contributed to this critical first step of the review process.

Oversight Committee:

Chair: Marla Schay, Head of Guidance 6-12

Administration: Jennifer Faber, Woodland School Principal John Gibbons, WMS Principal Kelly Flynn, WHS Assistant Principal

Faculty: Steve Ribisi, Science Department Head 6-12 Caryn Grozalsky, Grade 7 Leader, Spanish

Counselors: Amy Black, Woodland School Counselor Cecilia Tatem Small, Field School Counselor Kim Roslonek, Middle School Counselor

Weston Public School Counselors:

Elementary: Amy Black Carrie Dyball Cecilia Tatem Small

Middle: Phoenix Malfa Kim Roslonek Kari Anne Wye

High: Gretchen Gugliotta Samson Luu Chris Shanahan Maryann Shea Marla Schay, Head of Guidance 6-12 and high school counselor


Process Counselors began their work assessing the program in the summer of 2018, planning the tasks necessary to perform an in-depth review while considering what they sought to learn. They identified the stakeholders from whom they wanted input, including parents, students at the secondary level, and faculty/staff. In addition, counselors wanted to collect data regarding their individual perceptions and professional development. Surveys were designed and conducted in the winter and spring of 2018 and 2019. The oversight committee first met in the fall of 2018.

School counseling has undergone significant change over the past two decades. The term “Guidance Counselor” has evolved into “School Counselor” to reflect the expansion of roles and responsibilities. Historically, a “guidance counselor’s” main focus was on guiding students through post-graduation planning to college or work. Currently, school counselors address students’ social/emotional learning from the earliest grades, personal development, and academic guidance in addition to post-secondary options that include 2- and 4-year-college programs, gap year, military, and workforce options. Professional organizations on the state and national level have created developmentally-grounded standards-based models for what comprehensive school counseling programs should include. The self-study is informed by the overarching standards set forth in the American School Counselor Association National Model for Comprehensive School Counseling (mirrored in the Massachusetts School Counselor Association model). The purpose of this self-study was not to measure the program against specific metrics in the frameworks, but rather, to look at Weston’s program more broadly.

For many, the role of the school counselor is unclear. In part, this is due to the inherent confidentiality and varied nature of the work. School counselors respond to the differing developmental needs at each educational level. Elementary counselors help guide children on their path to becoming “students,” helping them to develop the personal awareness, social skills and academic self-confidence for future success. Middle school counselors help students navigate the growth from childhood to adolescence, with ups, downs and complexities socially and emotionally, as well as increasing academic demands. High school counselors help students continue to understand themselves and their path into adulthood by supporting their personal challenges, relationships with peers, academic choices and their college and other post-secondary pursuits.

For the current analysis, the first step was to look critically at what counselors do. Counselors compared job descriptions, where available. They outlined the various components of their work and collected data to track their activity. This data collection was not intended to be a timesheet, but rather to get a sense of how typical days are spent. Counselors created a Google survey that included broad categories (direct, indirect student focused, and indirect administrative), student demographics (grade, gender, special program), and the nature of the task/work. All eleven counselors tracked tasks in a one-week period in each of four consecutive months.

Surveys were sent to parents, faculty/staff at each school level and students at the middle and high schools. Responses were obtained from 277 parents, 230 middle school students and 143


high school students. Faculty/staff responses were 46 elementary, 36 middle school and 46 high school. In addition to surveys specifically designed to support the self-study, student-perception data collected through the high school’s Naviance program was reviewed. Naviance is a web-based resource at the high school which students use for self-assessment and exploration about interests, careers and colleges; school counselors use the program to interface with students, track data and process college applications. Finally, as part of counselors’ participation in regional groups, they have access to data from other districts. They used this information in lieu of doing site visits, as counseling does not lend itself to observation.

The analysis, reflections and conclusions made through the process are driven by their openness to assess current practices, outside feedback, and alternative practices in order to enhance their work.

Comprehensive School Counseling The ASCA National Model® for Comprehensive School Counseling recognizes that school counseling is an essential component both in supporting a school’s academic mission and in assisting students in developmentally appropriate ways to participate fully, grow and ready themselves for college and career. The model recognizes that “effective school counseling programs are a collaborative effort between the school counselor, parents and other educators to create an environment that promotes student achievement.” (ASCA National Model Executive Summary, p. 1) Based on their analysis, ASCA maintains that for counselors to be effective, the counselor-to-student ratio should be no higher than 1:250. The ASCA framework of a comprehensive school counseling program includes four categories:

➢ Foundation – Counseling programs should be grounded on well-defined understanding of goals and challenges to their achievement. It is essential to expand student competencies in three domains: academic, college/career and social/emotional development. Counselors require specific knowledge, attitudes and competencies and maintain high standards of integrity and professionalism.

➢ Management – School counselors should employ a range of organizational assessments and tools to support and improve the counseling program. These can include self-evaluations of program activities, use-of-time assessments, communications plans, and data collection/review. Management also includes coordination with school and district leadership. Advisory councils made up of various stakeholders can be established to make recommendations to the school counseling program as well.

➢ Accountability – Not only are school counselors evaluated by standards unique to their roles, the school counseling program uses data to assess and demonstrate its effectiveness. Counselors use the data to inform future action.

➢ Delivery – The central focus of the school counseling program is providing services to students, parents, school personnel and the community at large. This takes the form of both direct services to students and indirect services on behalf of students.


Direct services include:

○ Structured lessons (curriculum) in classrooms or group activities to promote developmentally-appropriate skills and knowledge in the areas of academic, career/college and social/emotional growth

○ Individual student goal-setting and planning ○ Responsive services to address immediate needs and concerns

Indirect services include: ○ counselors’ collaboration with others (parents, teachers, administrators, nurses, etc.) ○ referral for supportive assistance ○ coordination with community resources

ASCA maintains that school counselors spend at least 80% of their time in direct or indirect services to students.


Organizational Structure The Guidance Program Review is limited to the School Counselors in the district. At the secondary level, there are additional Adjustment Counselors to support the social/emotional needs of students. Because their specialist role, the program review is focused on the “generalists” – the counselors at every level who serve as the first level of support to all students. The structure of the counseling program differs across the school levels within the district, as outlined below. Elementary Schools: One counselor, whose title is Adjustment Counselor rather than School Counselor, is assigned to each of the three schools – Woodland School, Country School, and Field School. Counselors see students on a regular basis when services are included on an IEP or 504; numbers vary year to year, but can include up to 20 students. In addition, they meet with other students with needs, either individually or in groups. These meetings can be a single session or regular meetings over a period of time. Counselors may have as many as 30-40 students that they meet with regularly. Elementary counselors also lead classroom discussions about social-emotional skills, human growth and development, and safety. Counselors estimate that they see three quarters of the students at least once over the course of the year, and they get to know most families. The student populations in 2018-19 are 291 in Woodland School, 232 in Country School, and 301 in Field School. Middle School: Three counselors are assigned, one to each grade, staying with the same students as they progress from 6th through 8th grade. School Counselor is the official title, but habit still has many referring to them as Guidance Counselors. After the 8th grade students transition to the high school, counselors pick up the 6th grade class the following year. Caseloads vary with the size of the class, and have ranged between 150 and 205 in the past five years. Occasionally, there is a guidance intern, who in their last year of graduate school is getting his or her required practicum experience. The grade 6 counselor teaches a Guidance Seminar to all students, with students scheduled for the course in one of the four quarters. High School: Five counselors, whose caseloads include students from every grade (9th through 12th), are generally assigned according to an alphabetical split. Occasionally, students new to the district are assigned out of the alpha sequence in order to balance caseloads or students are placed with counselors who have have a relationship with the family from older siblings. Students who attend school beyond 12th grade stay with their same counselor. The title has traditionally been Guidance Counselor, but they are trying to migrate to School Counselor to reflect current professional practice. All students in the high school are assigned one of the school counselors in the Guidance Department. There is an administrative assistant to support the work of the office, as well as registering new students to the high school and coordinating visits from college representatives. The caseload over the past five years has ranged between 155 and 185, depending on the student population. One of the counselors also serves as department head, with half the number of students on the caseload. In addition, they generally have two guidance interns who are an integral part of the guidance department by helping with communications and support tasks, and meeting with students identified by counselors as needing additional support. Counselors teach guidance seminars to classes of students representing all counselors.


Leadership: The Head of Guidance is a department head for secondary counseling (6-12). Responsibilities include (but are not limited to) consulting with counselors as needed (regarding students, teachers, care coordination, policies, etc.), holding regular department meetings at each level to review current activities (occasionally combined), preparing documentation and reports (e.g. School Profile), overseeing communications (website, newsletters, emails to students/parents), leading parent/community programming and information sessions, serving on administrative/leadership teams, acting as the coordinator (sometimes delegated) for non-MCAS standardized testing (PSAT, PreACT, school-based SAT and ACT, AP), NCAA, Koplik, etc., serving on school and district committees (e.g. Crisis Team), managing out-of-district records, and representing Guidance at school events, programs and School Committee meetings. In addition to the significant involvement in scheduling which is inherent with the position at all high schools, the Head of Guidance is currently responsible for building the master schedule at the high school. The Head of Guidance currently evaluates all of the school counselors at the high school, one at the middle school and the three secondary adjustment counselors. Building or district administrators evaluate the remaining counselors.

Collaboration to Deliver Services School counselors collaborate on a regular basis with others in the schools to support students and deliver services in the counseling frameworks.

➢ The School Psychologist works with counselors whose students are referred for a 504 Plan to help determine the presence and nature of a disability. The school psychologist also is a resource for consultation about students and ways to support them. At the elementary level, school psychologists are essential partners when a student is in crisis. In addition, the District Psychologist provides invaluable input into cases and monitors emergency evaluations, mandated reporting and student hospitalizations.

➢ At the high school, two counselors are standing members of IST (Instructional Support Team), sharing the role of case managers to present students to the team. When students are discussed, their counselors attend IST to provide additional information and get input from teachers. At the middle school, all counselors are members of IST. At the elementary level, two of the three counselors chair the IST team, and one is a member.

➢ School counselors work collaboratively with special educators – the department head, team chairs, and teachers – to support students. They are also involved in supporting transition planning.

➢ Nurses work collaboratively with counselors as often students who seek out the nurse may, in fact, have underlying stresses and concerns.

➢ Health programming is principally delivered by the Wellness Department, including topics around substances, mental health, dating, social dynamics, etc. At the elementary level, counselors assist in classroom instruction about human development. At the secondary level, counselors partner with Wellness around SBIRT (Screening, Brief Intervention and Referral to Treatment) and SOS (Signs of Suicide). It should be noted that most districts use physical education teachers and nurses to do the SBIRT student screening. In Weston, counselors chose to do the screening feeling that it provides another touchpoint to build trusting relationships with students. The Nurse Leader and K-12 Wellness department head manage communications and coordination with the state, and PE teachers provide the logistics that facilitates meeting with students.


➢ At the secondary level there is an adjustment counselor in each building available to meet with any student having social/emotional concerns, and/or any social/emotional related crisis, providing an extra tier of support. In addition, they are often included on IEPs or 504s for regular counseling with students. Students may self-initiate meetings or refer friends, but adjustment counselors also receive referrals from teachers, counselors and IST (Instructional Support Team). These professionals regularly interact with school counselors, and feel that they operate as one department. Secondary adjustment counselors are generally evaluated by the Head of Guidance.

➢ The secondary schools have Transitions and/or Bridge programs to support students with their return to school after an extended absence or hospitalization, or those with social/emotional goals on their IEP. School counselors collaborate closely with the adjustment counselors working specifically in these programs.

➢ While TEC (The Enrichment Center) at the high school is a self-referred general education academic support for students, struggling students may be scheduled by counselors for additional support. The same happens by the middle school counselors for the DSP (Directed Support Program) class. The TEC educator is also serving as the AP Coordinator and works extensively with school counselors in organizing and proctoring AP exams.

➢ At the high school, career education is delivered through Career Seminar and Senior Transitions courses at the 10th and 12th grades, respectively. These “multidisciplinary” courses are considered part of the guidance offering, and counselors occasionally visit these classes to support content. Career Seminar offers sophomores the opportunity to explore their strengths, weaknesses, abilities, and interests in relation to possible career and college choices. Exploration will include interest inventories, self-exploration assignments, occupational research, exploration of labor market trends, speakers, and job shadowing opportunities. Senior Transitions challenges students to explore their personal skills and career interests while preparing them for a culminating 3-week internship. The teacher is supported by the guidance department and attends department meetings as appropriate.

Data The Guidance Administrators Forum (GAF) collects data annually about the structure of member districts. The majority of GAF department heads work only at the high school level, but there are some who supervise more broadly. Of the 30 districts included on the 2018-19 report, one department head supervises a grade 8-12 program, six department heads supervise middle and high school counselors, and six are K-12 department heads. All but two of the high schools have counselor caseloads within the ASCA recommendation, with nine under 200. Currently, Weston and Dover-Sherborn have caseloads smaller than some of the larger districts with 160 and 170, respectively. There are some districts that have counselors serve specific demographics, such as EL students. GAF members were asked about caseloads and structures at their district’s elementary and middle schools. The majority of districts assign middle school counselors by grade, although a few have alternate structures. Middle school caseloads for the responding districts ranged between 190 and 400. Elementary school counselor structures and activities were similar to Weston’s, with counselors seeing both special and general education students on a regular basis or as-needed. Only two districts specifically assign elementary students to counselors. Like most of the other districts, Weston’s elementary school “caseloads” are higher than secondary ones because they serve entire schools (GAF districts ranging from 200-500).


Considerations Caseloads: The high school and middle school have caseloads within the ASCA recommendation of one counselor to 250 students. The ratio is higher than recommended at the elementary schools, although counselors do not meet individually with every student. Increasingly, elementary counselors are handling complex cases that require significant involvement in times of crisis. As there is only one counselor in the school, students with routine needs may have reduced access to the counselor. Consideration is being given to introducing additional supports for students with significant emotional and/or behavioral needs.

Nomenclature: While titles do not affect what counselors do, they can influence the perceptions of others. In published materials the terminology continues to change from guidance to school counselors and they will encourage faculty and staff to refer to them as School Counselors. The title of the elementary counselors should be changed to school counselors as well. Not only does this reflect their work in classrooms and SEL programs for all students, but it would be less confusing for parents as students transition from Field School to Weston Middle School, as the primary support would be a “School Counselor” in both cases.

Leadership: Elementary counselors regularly meet on a district level with 6-12 counselors for clinical professional development. The District Psychologist has taken on clinical support for the three counselors, having regular K-5 meetings. In addition, the 6-12 Head of Guidance has advocated for them, when appropriate. Data from the counselor survey indicates that school counselors need more effective feedback and support from evaluators. Open and honest follow-up conversations during the evaluation process, as well as professional development, will help leaders better support counselors going forward.

Job Descriptions/Expectations: One of the concerns school counselors raised was that their roles are not well-defined and are often misunderstood. The job is becoming more complex as student issues become more complicated. With the onboarding of a new Director of Human Resources, counselors will work together with the HR department to build clarity around the counseling positions. The survey indicated that counselors believe that their building administrators both support them and understand their roles and responsibilities. More communications between district administrators and

counselors were desired, and steps are already under way for counselors to have more time working directly with the Director of Student Services. In addition, Student Services is working to refine organizational workflows in order to work smarter, and the introduction of the District Psychologist role last year to support counselors and building administrators in acute situations has been invaluable.


Plans are already in place to increase collaboration within the four departments under the Student Services umbrella – Special Education, English Language Education, Nursing and Counseling – which is a positive step toward encouraging teamwork and improving communications. The additional facetime will allow counselors to raise concerns and get clarifications as well as to provide a forum for dialog and brainstorming solutions to issues.

Activity/Time Analysis As part of their data collection, counselors in every school tracked tasks and student interactions over a one-week period for four consecutive months. The purpose was not to act as an exact timesheet, but rather to paint a picture of the work they do.

Counselors were not surprised to see that 56% of activities lasted 15 minutes or less, with 26% only being 30 minutes. They often feel that the day is splintered such that it is difficult to carve out large blocks of time to do project work. Almost half of the activities (49.4%) were direct services, the vast majority of which was individual counseling. Combined with indirect activities that were student-focused (62.9%), just over 80% of counselors’ activities were considered student-related, consistent with the ASCA model.

Direct activities spanned numerous types of interactions, from general check-ins to crisis interventions. Student-focused indirect activities included team/IST meetings, consultations, emails/calls, application processing, and academic planning.

The charts below and on the following page provide additional detail from the counselor activity data collection.


Direct Services Consistent with the ASCA frameworks, direct student services are delivered in three forms: curriculum, individual student planning and responsive services. (ASCA, 2012, p. 84) Curriculum may be centered around developing social/emotional skills such as Open Circle or Responsive Classroom, increasing self-awareness through inventories of personality or learning style, or promoting knowledge and skills about transition planning, to name a few. Lessons may be delivered in a classroom setting (Guidance Seminars or within an elementary classroom, for example) or through group activities. Working with students individually, counselors help students identify concerns, define personal goals and develop strategies to meet them. Students often ask counselors to help in their appraisal of options and decision-making. School counselors also manage 504 Plans for students. Responsive services are provided as needs arise, and can take the form of short-term counseling sessions or immediate response to an emergency situation. When long-term interventions or therapy are needed, school counselors will assist families by making referrals to community resources. Counselors partner with parents to identify the best educational solution for each student.

The exact nature of the services will be developmentally appropriate and will vary from student to student, as each student is unique. The goal is to support all students.

Elementary

Social/Emotional Elementary school counselors provide direct services to a wide variety of students, and act as a resource to families, faculty, and staff. The elementary counselors have a dual role within general and special education. They provide direct services (individual or group) to students with counseling on their

Individualized Education Plans. They facilitate a variety of groups available to any student, including social skills, anxiety, new students, or issue-specific groups as needed (i.e. family changes, loss, etc.). Kindergarten students each have a snack group with their school counselor during the year as a way to introduce them to the school counselor and the role. Counselors meet individually with students at the request of teachers, parents, or

students themselves. Counselors work with students about a variety of issues, including peer conflict/social skills, problem solving, anxiety, loss, self-regulation. Some students require intensive support and significant time of the elementary school counselors.


Counselors are an integral part of the elementary school community. They greet students when they arrive in the morning, may provide support and guidance in the cafeteria and playground, and consult with teachers and administrators regularly regarding student needs. Counselors facilitate in-classroom discussions about relevant topics (bullying, inclusion, problem solving, human growth and development, school safety, etc). Elementary counselors support the school-wide social/emotional programming. They have been trained in the Open Circle curriculum and have led the Open Circle curriculum in classrooms, acted as coaches for teachers in training, and been a resource for teachers in implementation. As the district moves toward full implementation of Responsive Classroom in 2019-20, counselors will receive professional development and continue to support SEL throughout the school.

Academic Elementary counselors are integral to the IST process. At Country and Woodland Schools, the counselor is the chairperson of the Instructional Support Team, and at Field School, the counselor is a member. Counselors act as the 504 Accommodation Plan coordinator, managing the 504 process and facilitating annual review meetings with each team. Counselors also proctor MCAS exams and help implement testing accommodations. Elementary counselors often join in on parent-teacher conferences and consult with teachers and parents regarding specific concerns. Secondary

Social/Emotional One of the pillars of the direct services that counselors provide to students at the secondary level is social/emotional support. This comes in many forms and can be student, parent, teacher, or counselor

initiated. Counselors have many students who come for support or assistance for themselves or others who may be dealing with stress, anxiety, depression, or other challenges and are looking for guidance. They also receive referrals from parents, teachers, and/or administrators who have concerns about an individual student and ask us to meet with the student and assess the situation.

When counselors are dealing with social/emotional concerns, they use a triage model. They evaluate the situation to determine what the next steps should be and who else (if anyone) should be involved (parents, youth/adjustment counselor, outside referral). Beyond the individual meetings, counselors have weekly Guidance Seminar classes in the 6th grade as part of the students’ arts rotation. In this course, they spend time getting acquainted with the students in a classroom setting. They discuss several topics which include social dynamics, learning styles and complete a brief research assignment about college and careers. Counselors also offer support through formalized programs including SOS (Signs of Suicide) and SBIRT (Screening, Brief Intervention, and Referral to Treatment). Both of these programs are provided in


conjunction with the Wellness Department. SOS is offered as part of 7th, 9th and 11th grade health curriculum and school counselors are invited to the classes to speak to students about how to get help for themselves or someone else who may be dealing with depression or have signs of suicide. Counselors also follow up with any students who indicate that they would like to speak with a counselor as part of the screening done in the class. School counselors are tasked with screening all 7th & 9th graders through SBIRT to determine if any students need help dealing with substance use issues, and providing positive reinforcement for those who are not using substances.

Academic Academic counseling is another pillar of the secondary level direct service model.

Middle School – At the middle school level, the Principal is responsible for building the master schedule. Beyond helping to select various courses, particularly electives, counselors work with students once they are in their classes. They help to connect students with their teachers, working to resolve conflicts and coaching students in ways that will help them to have productive learning relationships. School counselors help struggling students arrange extra help sessions or other academic supports. They also work closely with teachers around deciding if a student may benefit from any of the middle school’s scheduled regular education supports, such as math Topics or Direct Support Program (DSP). If these interventions don’t work, they might make a referral for the student to IST (Instructional Support Team) and/or look into changing the course, if warranted.

High School – In this arena, counselors offer guidance around selecting courses and creating a four-year plan that will offer students the opportunity to stretch and grow as students, foster their curiosity, and provide the skills and challenges that will help them as they navigate their post-graduate planning process. In February and March, they meet individually with each of their students (including rising ninth

graders at the Middle School) to discuss course selection for the upcoming year. Though this is a task that could be done using an online program, counselors feel very strongly that the conversations they have with students around selecting courses, seeking appropriate levels of challenge, looking at the big picture, and maintaining balance in their academic and personal lives are invaluable. Weston is one of only a handful of schools in which counselors meet

with all students during this process. Beyond selecting courses, they work with students once they are in their classes. If a student is having a conflict with a teacher, they provide coaching and the option of facilitating discussions between the two parties to find ways to move forward in a positive direction. If a student is struggling in a course, they work with them to find ways to get the help they need to be successful, including referrals to TEC (The Enrichment Center), setting up extra help meetings with the teacher, etc. For some students, a referral to IST (Instructional Support Team) might be appropriate.


While not strictly a school counseling task, a member of the guidance team also manages the Independent Study program.

College/Career Counselors do a great deal of work with students around the post-graduate, college and career planning process. Students are introduced to career interests and the related educational requirements as early as Guidance Seminar in 6th grade. At the high school, this starts during sophomore year with the Career

Seminar course. This is a course taught by an adjunct member of the department and allows students to explore their strengths and interests to begin thinking about possible career choices that might be a good fit for them. They utilize interest inventories in Naviance and examine a variety of fields to determine what they may want to pursue. This is a semester-long course that leads nicely into the Guidance Seminar 11 (GS11) course that counselors teach to all juniors in the spring semester. The ‘Career

Interest Profiler’ created in 10th grade is used in the beginning of the college search process. In GS11, counselors cover topics such as beginning the college search process/finding the right fit, how to plan a college visit, interview skills, how to apply to college/the Common Application, how to write a personal essay, and post-graduate options beyond college (PG year, gap year, work, etc.). Though they give students this information in a standardized way, students are required to meet with counselors individually at least twice as part of the course to determine how best to use this information to create the path that is right for them with guidance and support. In senior year, counselors continue the work from GS11 through individual meetings with all of their seniors at the beginning of the year. They work with seniors individually throughout senior year to ensure that they are meeting deadlines and completing applications fully and in a timely manner, and provide information necessary to successfully complete their post-graduate planning. The final capstone course offered is Senior Transitions during the spring of senior year. This course is taught by the Career Seminar teacher who introduces students to the life skills they need to embark on life as an adult. These skills range from resume writing to how to create a budget to understanding credit ratings. The goal with all of these courses is to show students the opportunities that are available beyond high school, to provide the resources and information necessary to take advantage of these opportunities, and to give students the tools they need to reach their goals and become contributing members of the community.

Standardized tests are inherent to the college application process. Weston encourages all sophomores to take the PreACT, a practice ACT given on a Saturday in March. In October of junior year, the guidance department offers the PSAT/NMSQT on the Saturday test date and encourages all juniors to take the test. This practice SAT also serves as the National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test. There are usually a handful of sophomores who choose to take the test for practice. Weston is not a national test center for either SATs or ACTs; however, they administer standardized tests to students whose accommodations require school-based testing (e.g. use of a computer, 100% extended time, breaks as needed). These tests are administered during the school day and are proctored by either counselors or guidance


interns. There has been a marked increase in the numbers of school-based test administrations in the past five years. They posit that the spike in SAT special administration is in large part due to the testing agency relinquishing responsibility of determining eligibility to put the onus on schools. A growing number of students have school-based accommodations that national test centers cannot provide. The rise in special administration of the ACT is consistent with increasing numbers of Weston students taking the ACT.

Reflections on Direct Services

Data Connections to Middle School Counselors: Within the comments sections of the their survey, middle school students felt that they needed more interactions with their grade counselor so that they would get to know them better. Some students felt that after Guidance Seminar in 6th grade, they lost contact with their counselor.

High School Course Selection and Scheduling: Students are overwhelmingly happy with the help that counselors provide in picking appropriate courses (79% agree or strongly agree) and assisting with scheduling (86% agree or strongly agree). No other district of which counselors are aware uses individual meetings with all students to discuss course selection and academic planning on an annual basis.

Career Planning and Workforce Preparation: While only a quarter of high school students disagree that career-related courses (Career Seminar and Senior Transitions) have helped them learn about themselves and their future career, a third are ambivalent (neither agree nor disagree). This indicates that these courses, in their current form, need to be updated.

Post-Secondary Planning: Student surveys are mixed on the utility of the guidance seminars GS11 and GS12, specifically, as well as the helpfulness of counseling advice in the college process. About half of high school students agree or strongly agree that their school counselor helped them think about their goals after graduation and slightly more than that agree or strongly agree that their counselor helped with planning, college selection and placement. Given the priority placed on the college process in Weston, with over 95% consistently attending college, counselors felt the numbers were low. Referring to Naviance surveys, however, they found that 41.6% (406 total respondents from 2016-2018) use college coaches which reduces the reliance of those students on school counselors.

Anecdotal experiences with seniors have shown that students do not retain the specifics of the process discussed in Guidance Seminar, relying instead on coming to the Guidance office for individualized help even when time is available to work in class. This is likely because students are at different places in the process at any given time. For example, if the lesson about sending test scores does not fall when they are thinking about that step, they do not retain the information. Naviance feedback about GS11 was mostly positive (students would not change much about the course), and they liked the information on college visits, teacher recommendations and mock admission the most. Some students felt counselors should


spend more time going over the general timeline for the process (deadlines, etc.), financial aid/scholarships, and work on essays.

The timeline for the college application process has changed dramatically over the past ten years. Over 90% of WHS students are now applying under an early admission program of some sort (Early Decision, Early Action, Restricted Early Action, Priority, or Rolling). In fact, colleges are pushing the standard November 1st deadline even earlier. There are numerous schools with October 15th deadlines, and over the past two years, some that are accepting applications as early as July 1st. Earlier deadlines put pressure not only on students but on guidance office processes, particularly the July 1st deadlines. Transcripts with final grades for junior year that also include enrolled courses for senior year are not available until the “active” school calendar is rolled over in mid-August. Further, the data for the annual school profile is not available until late summer or fall (AP and SAT/ACT data, National Merit Semifinalists and Commended Student numbers, etc.). In order to support students, counselors have addressed these issues by creating work arounds – attaching both a list of enrolled courses to the final junior year transcript and the prior year’s school profile. Perhaps the most difficult part of summer deadline applications, however, have been recommendations which are typically available from counselors and teachers in the fall. Summer requests for sending application materials to colleges may not include letters, making the students’ applications incomplete for review. The practice of colleges offering summer decisions puts counselors in a difficult position since school is not in session. It is important to note that almost all colleges are members of NACAC (National Association for College Admissions Counseling) and agree to the organization’s guidelines that state “October 15: This date is the earliest deadline colleges may require first-year candidates to submit an application for fall admission. Members must give equal consideration to all applications received by that date.” (p. 7)

Considerations Responsive Service Support for Elementary Counselors: Elementary counselors have experienced increases in complex and service-intensive cases. At times, attention to a small number of students with high needs makes it more difficult for counselors to see other students for routine concerns and regularly scheduled appointments beyond the ones mandated on an IEP. While the numbers of students with intense needs may be small, the impact on the entire student body can be significant. The District Psychologist and new Director of District Advancement are currently working with teams of elementary educators and counselors, and the teams are reaching out to other districts about how complex cases are handled. The goal is to create a system of tiered interventions around behavior and social/emotional support, including coaches that work within the general education classroom.

Middle School Counselor Contact Time: This school year (2018-19), the Guidance Seminar class taught to 6th grade students was decreased in frequency from twice per week to once. This is valuable time used to make connections with each student in a classroom setting, and counselors are feeling the impact of the time reduction. Based on feedback from the student survey, middle school counselors are currently brainstorming ideas on how to increase touch points with all students in their grade throughout middle school.

High School Guidance Seminars: Weston’s current schedule structure lends itself to counselors teaching in a classroom setting with students from the grade as a whole and not their own caseload. While the necessary information for all seniors pursuing college is delivered as part of the curriculum, counselors sometimes find that the details “stick” more with students when received directly from their own counselor. As a result, counselors have decided to eliminate GS12 for seniors in 2019-20 and replace it with introductory small group meetings with counselors to start the college application process and follow up with “on-demand” information online and in the guidance office. Additionally, they


acknowledge that attending college directly after high school graduation is not ideal or appropriate for every student. While the number of students in this demographic is relatively small, there has been a slight uptick in recent years. Moreover, the challenges unique to non-traditional students are real, and can be significant for individuals in a student population with extremely high college attendance. Curriculum delivery approaches for the career-related courses for all students should be reviewed, as well, to determine if there are ways to increase student engagement.

504 Case Management School counselors manage 504 Plans for students on their caseloads. Over the past three years the 504 process has changed dramatically. Past practice at the high school was that a team including counselors, the principal, the school psychologist, the school nurse, and two teachers considered all requests for 504 accommodations. A couple of years ago the high school moved to a system where counselors work individually with the school psychologist, teachers and the family to consider requests from/for students on their caseload – a practice consistent with the other schools. Counselor roles include running individual meetings for each family as well as coordination of annual reviews. Processes are being developed to manage the additional responsibilities required. Further, this year the district purchased the 504 module for the EasyIEP program used by Special Education to facilitate documentation and management of 504 plans. Counselors have been moving all existing cases into EasyIEP, as well as starting new cases in that system. Previously, all plans were created and stored separately by counselor. This new system will centralize all storage of 504 plan documents and make it easier to migrate cases between schools as students moves through the system. EasyIEP should also help counselors manage the process for both new referrals and existing plans.

New Referrals: When students need support in the classroom the first step is to determine what interventions can be made by teachers in the classroom, using the District Accommodation Plan (DCAP) as a guide. As a next step, teachers may express concern about a student who is struggling and refer directly to IST themselves. IST provides a forum for teachers, counselors and IST team members to consider the student’s struggles and what supports may be helpful. The counselor serves as the student’s advocate in the meeting. The team reviews the interventions that have already been tried, and may recommend additional ones. If upon revisiting the case and determining that there may be a disability, the student will be referred to the Special Education department for evaluation. Additionally, students who are diagnosed with a disability or who are struggling in school may request supports/accommodations. If a counselor has been approached by a student or parent, a referral is made to IST. Once the evaluation in the suspected area of disability is concluded, the student, parent, counselor and school psychologist meet to discuss eligibility for services. If specialized instruction and eligibility for an IEP are ruled out but a disability and necessary accommodations are identified, the counselor will offer a 504 Accommodation Plan. Once the plan is developed, the counselor will then enter the 504 plan into EasyIEP, post the plan and a flag in Infinite Campus so that teachers have access to the information, and inform teachers and specialists of the newly approved plan.

Managing Existing Plans: Once a plan is in place, the counselor acts as an advocate for the student’s needs. The counselor is the point person for the student, family, and teachers if any questions arise around accommodations or needs for additional supports. Further, the counselor coordinates accommodations requests for standardized testing (SAT, ACT) and acts as a liaison for MCAS and AP coordinators regarding questions about accommodations. Each year, counselors oversee an annual review for each plan and every three years coordinate a re-evaluation of the 504 plan in conjunction with the school psychologist.


Data and Considerations As seen in the chart below, the number of referrals for 504 Plans increases significantly in high school. The numbers in the current 8th grade were high for the cohort since Field School. Several neighboring districts include 504 coordination as part of another role, under which the initial referrals and eligibility determinations are managed. Counselors then take over the ongoing management of the plan, including annual reviews, documentation and re-evaluations. In the counselor survey, 504 eligibility determination and management remain a source of discomfort, in part because policies change (often due to Civil Rights recommendations to school or changes in legal interpretations).

School: PreK K 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Totals:

Country/Woodland 1 2 3 6 5 17

Field 3 4 7

Middle School 6 3 12 21

High School 6 16 18 30 70

Totals: 1 2 3 6 5 3 4 6 3 12 6 16 18 30 115

While any 504 Plan needs to be tailored to the individual needs of the students, counselors worry about how best to maintain consistency amongst themselves. They should consider establishing a regular meeting for the counselors K-12 with the Director of Student Services, who is knowledgeable about current 504 law, to answer questions, address concerns and discuss protocols. The meetings would be similar to team chair meetings held routinely for Special Education, but on a less frequent basis – two or three times per year should be sufficient. This would allow for more standardization among schools, especially when considering a transition year (3rd to 4th, 5th to 6th, and 8th to 9th). Student plans needing re-evaluations would be discussed and any necessary testing scheduled. It might be appropriate for the district to centralize initial eligibility determination and plan development under one person.


Indirect Services In keeping with the ASCA frameworks, school counselors at Weston High School “provide indirect student services as a means to support student achievement and to promote equity and access for all students.” (ASCA, 2-12, p. 87) The ASCA frameworks suggest that, working with families, teachers, administrators, and community stakeholders, counselors gather and disseminate pertinent information regarding student issues, challenges, and successes. ASCA’s ethical guidelines reinforce that only after securing permission from families do counselors share private information with third parties (p. 87). In this fashion, they work on behalf of all students to help support their efforts to find academic, SEL, and post-graduate success and fulfill their potential.

District-Wide – All Levels

Consultation School counselors consult with an array of interested parties on behalf of individual students. They regularly interact with teachers, families, building/district administrators, and outside institutions and agencies in an effort to support students in reaching their academic potential. Examples of the most common instances where they consult on students’ behalf:

➢ Teachers – for a myriad of student-focused reasons, including academic difficulties, emotional issues, safety concerns, etc.

➢ Families – on topics ranging from student emotional well-being, to adolescent development, to academic progress, to post-graduate planning.

➢ Community Resources – as a means of providing continuity of care between outside mental health or medical providers and the school. Having the ability to communicate with treatment providers allows them to best support their students here at school as well as provide the treater with a glimpse into their client’s life here at school. Counselors also work with students’ previous schools to determine appropriate course of study for students. The District Psychologist helps to maintain relationships with community resources and is helpful in referrals.

➢ District Administrators/Principal/Assistant Principal – on incidents involving disciplinary action by the school. School counselors offer historical context and insight into a student’s background that sometimes helps to understand the impetus behind some maladaptive behaviors/actions. They often also serve as a support for students facing suspension or expulsion, along with their families. It is important to maintain a “therapeutic divide” between the disciplinarian and the counselor so as not to hinder the counseling relationship with the student.

➢ IST – as members of the Instructional Support Team, school counselors lend insight to teachers as they endeavor to serve students experiencing challenges in their classes. As part of the referral/504 process, they also use this forum to consult with students, families, school psychologists, Special Education team members, and teachers in an effort to identify students with disabilities, to help them devise and implement a plan of support, and sometimes to refer to Special Education for a formal evaluation, as circumstances dictate. See 504 Process and Case Management above for further specifics.

➢ Individual Education Plans – through involvement in the IEP process, preparing educational histories as well as active participation in team meetings.


➢ Private schools/colleges/summer programs/departing students – on behalf of student applicants on issues surrounding qualifying credentials, missing application items, acceptance off the waitlist, and financial aid; additionally, counselors are charged with preparing transcripts for students who are applying out to private schools or moving. Counselors are often asked to write letters of recommendation and serve as a link from former school to new school should that be needed.

Advocacy “School counselors are ideally situated to serve as advocates for every student in meeting high academic, career, and personal/social standards.” (ASCA, 2-12, p. 4) Formally as part of leadership teams at all levels, as well as on an ad hoc and ongoing basis, they provide a broad view and perspective on issues affecting students, faculty, and families as they relate to application of existing school policy and creation of new school policy. The goal within the ASCA frameworks is to promote student achievement by working to ensure student needs are addressed throughout the K-12 school experience.

➢ District/School-Wide Teams (ie. Crisis Team or Leadership Teams) – Counselors work collaboratively with other faculty and administrators on these teams to lend their perspective to issues of safety, policy etc.

➢ Initiatives – School counselors are instrumental in advocating for change and working with teams to create new programs, classes or supports for students.

Communication and Outreach On a host of more generalized topics, school counselors engage students, families, and the community through varied indirect means. The purpose of such communications is typically to inform interested parties to empower them to make decisions or pursue courses of action that are most appropriate. Typical communications include:

➢ Students – Informational communication to students is frequent at the high school level, but is also used at the middle school. General emails, announcements, and webpage/newsletter notices (ie. upcoming deadlines, school happenings).

➢ Families – As part of all-school programs such as the PTO’s “High School 411,” the guidance department educates those in attendance on the role of school counselors in a student’s education, the importance social-emotional health in fostering the well-being of students, and navigating school norms and protocols. In addition, school counselors conduct grade- and population-specific parent/student info sessions and coffees aimed at addressing protocols/concerns around various transition points, developmental touchpoints, or specific issues, such as anxiety, bullying, vaping, etc. Occasionally, issues arise that they feel necessitate a school response to support parents and guardians at home; an example was a letter that went to families about the Netflix series 13 Reasons Why and its handling of teen depression and suicide.

➢ Community – Counselors want to make connections with the community at large, as well as to support the needs of specific groups. Annually, a counselor will represent guidance at the METCO parent information session in Boston. This winter marked the first time a member of the department secured an invitation to the Lunar New Year Celebration put on by members of the Weston community. As an example of outreach, school counselors are working to understand and address the particular social-emotional and cultural challenges experienced by Asian and English Language students in Weston with the aim of better serving these populations. They have already met with Dr. Juliana Chen (from Newton-Wellesley Hospital’s Resiliency Project) as part of a district-wide consultation aimed at meeting the needs of these populations.


Level-Specific Engagement While delivery methods of indirect services often overlap between school levels, there exists a significant amount of variation by school. See below for school-specific examples of indirect services provided by school counselors on behalf of students, both specific and generally.

Elementary schools ➢ Elementary counselors participate in parent forums on various topics: grade-specific topics,

developmental stages, anxiety, social competency programs, etc.

➢ Transitions between schools – counselors participate in the Kindergarten screening day to welcome new students and parents. The Field school counselor participates in forums to transition 3rd graders to 4th grade. Counselors consult with each other to help transition students from one level to the next.

➢ IST – Some of the counselors at the elementary schools chair IST meetings (Instructional Support Team) and all counselors help manage the process.

➢ MCAS proctoring and makeups – counselors are involved in the proctoring of small groups of students during all MCAS testing. They are also in charge of coordinating and then proctoring all makeups.

➢ Counselors serve on the school-based leadership teams, including cabinets and Principal’s Roundtables.

Middle School ➢ Parent coffees – Each year the school holds several parent coffees focusing on various aspects of

student life here at the middle school. Counselors attend such coffees and are often asked to speak to particular topics such as transition, scheduling, social/emotional development and the like.

➢ Transitions between schools – intimately involved with the rising of students from 8th into 9th grade, and the acceptance of new students from 5th into 6th grade. They ensure that the high school counselors are provided with all pertinent information about their incoming students in order to assist in as smooth a transition as possible. Counselors spend time at the Field School learning about their incoming class, again to provide for a solid transition.

➢ Support of “Transitions” Program – work closely with the School Adjustment Counselor to support students returning from absences or hospitalizations that are placed within the program. Assist in their transition back to the mainstream following their time away from the school.

➢ Scheduling of students in teams – charged with thoughtfully assigning their class of students to the different teams of teachers in each grade throughout middle school.

➢ MCAS proctoring and makeups – involved in the proctoring of small groups of students during all MCAS testing. They are also in charge of coordinating and then proctoring all makeups.

➢ Schedule changes/creation of new student schedules – When a student arrives to WMS after the school year has begun, counselors are charged with creating a schedule for that student. Counselors also have the capability to make changes to existing student schedules as needed – to accommodate IEP services, change an elective, reduce a class size, pursue an interest such as chorus, band or orchestra, etc.

➢ Counselor participated in creating professional development to interested faculty on supporting students in the LGBTQ+ community. There is significant interest to have this presentation repeated at other schools as well as with the district administrators.


High School ➢ School-wide policy – In the effort toward eliminating weighted GPA for all students, the guidance

department provided insight as to benefits of adopting this policy, as well as helped to frame community discussion around potential impacts, or lack thereof, that such a move would have on college admissions.

➢ Scheduling – After the master schedule is created, school counselors manually complete scheduling for those students who have unresolved issues with their academic schedules.

➢ Application requirements/deadlines – School counselors notify students of general deadlines surrounding college/private school/summer program applications (ie. ED, EA, Regular, and May 1 deposit), as well as certain scholarship details/deadlines (ie. Town, METCO scholarships).

➢ Family/Guardian communication – School counselors conduct information sessions for:

○ Parents/guardians of seniors to address the college application process, as well as other post-graduate opportunities.

○ Parents/guardians of juniors to address exploring post-graduate options, the college application timeline, and developing a balanced college list.

○ Parents/guardians of freshmen and sophomores to address challenges and opportunities unique to these grades and to provide a forum for parents to discuss insights and concerns with counselors and amongst each other.

○ All high school families regarding the Financial Aid process in conjunction with a representative from MEFA ( Massachusetts Educational Financing Authority).

○ All high school families interested in learning about pursuing Visual and Performing Arts in college in collaboration with Wellesley and Wayland High Schools.

○ All high school families interested in learning more about gap years in collaboration with Wellesley and Wayland High Schools.

○ Parents/guardians of 8th grade students to answer questions about life at the high school and scheduling/curriculum sequence.

○ Families of juniors and seniors (in conjunction with PTO) with a panel of past WHS graduates from a representative and diverse sample of colleges and postgraduate programs to speak on their experiences and answer questions from students and families in attendance (Return of the Grads).

➢ N-Rule Committee – Counselors advocate for students when they have extenuating circumstances that result in their missing school days sufficient to potentially render them unable to receive credit in a course (a grade of N in a course).

Reflections on Indirect Services

Data Outreach Parent feedback indicates the need for improved communications. Less than half of the parent respondents either agree or strongly agree that they have a clear understanding of the school counselor’s role in the school. While counselors have a wealth of knowledge about developmental


issues for students, parents and guardians do not appear to be equally accessing the information provided to the community, based on the survey. Elementary and middle school parent information sessions are generally held during the day. High school ones usually repeat the session once in the morning and once at night, although a few programs are held only at night to encourage student attendance. Attendance at parent/guardian information sessions tends to be low, and the department will continue its outreach efforts to effectively provide pertinent information.

Activity Tracking As aforementioned, counselors tracked tasks and student interactions over a one-week period for four consecutive months. About half of counselor activities (50.6%) were indirect services.

62.9% of the indirect activities were student-focused while the remaining 37.1% were devoted to administrative tasks. The chart below shows that almost half (47.1%) of the student-focused activities involved internal consultations with classroom teachers and other faculty/staff members. Emails/calls also accounted for 19.8% of the student-focused activities. These emails and calls are made mostly to parents and teachers of students. 74% of counselors’ indirect activities were for a duration of 30 minutes or less, similar to the findings for direct activities.


Considerations Parent Communications A significant number of respondents on the parent survey indicated they were not aware of counseling-related communications, even the high school Guidance Department Newsletter posted monthly, despite announcements of its existence through numerous means. This fact begs the question as to whether there is a more effective means of delivering general information to members of the Weston community. Some area counseling departments have turned to social media platforms such as Twitter or Facebook to serve this purpose, to mixed results. Would such an initiative make sense for Weston? What about employing some sort of text application? Other methods of communication or technologies such as Twitter? Regular communication about topics appropriate to social/emotional development at the all levels might help counselors partner with parents. Additional measures that could be incorporated include maintaining a calendar of general messages/reminders for students and families, as well as annual and weekly calendars to keep them informed and encourage them to seek out applicable/appropriate resources when they need them. ASCA recommends the maintenance of such a calendar of messages/reminders.

Advisory Council An Advisory Council, recommended in the ASCA framework, is another strategy for strengthening communication between counselors, district-wide, and the greater Weston community and is utilized in some neighboring districts. The team would consist of representatives from Weston school counselors, families, students, faculty, and administrators that would meet biannually or quarterly to review and make recommendations regarding the school counseling program activities and results. In essence, this council could provide ongoing and valuable feedback about the effectiveness of certain initiatives, as well as feedback as to which new initiatives to adopt.

Postgraduate Planning Night for All Grades In response to both feedback and observations that colleges are engaging potential applicants at increasingly younger ages and the desire of families to plan for college, counselors have begun developing a parent informational forum aimed at all grade levels that seeks to meet individual families where they are at. In borrowing from other guidance departments in the area, counselors will address the entire audience before splitting into smaller cohorts for specific break-out sessions, which families can choose to attend. In this manner, families can gather the information most pertinent to their student’s timeline and individual circumstances, whether financial aid, writing essays, hearing a panel of college admissions officers, using Naviance, or gap year experiences. This information session will likely take the place of the 11th grade parent information sessions offered in November.


Meeting Student Needs Ensuring Access and Equity School counselors seek to address student needs across all of Weston’s diverse populations. These include students at all academic levels, from those needing remedial work, to those working solidly at grade level, to those for whom the challenge of honors classes is appropriate, as well as those who might be deemed gifted. In addition, guidance seeks to serve students who may be learning English as a second language (our English Language Learner (EL) population), those identified with a learning disability, those struggling with mental/physical health issues/hospitalizations, the LGBTQ+ community, as well as those impacted by homelessness, poverty, or violence in the home. Further, counselors seek to address student needs in all of the various cultural, ethnic, and religious communities represented in Weston’s schools including students of color, Boston METCO students, students from immigrant families, and various students of faith. Counselors support and advocate for all students, whether or not they fit into any distinct population.

Student needs in various populations may include academic advocacy in helping students access appropriate level coursework and/or academic support. It may also include support around stress, depression, and anxiety. In addition, students may need support with transitions – both transitions from one level/grade/building to another (including the post-graduate/college transition), and transitions for students returning to school following a hospitalization, a family move, or a semester abroad/special program such as ski school. Students may also need support with family or life events including financial stress, abuse, loss, or family upheaval.

Guidance programming is presented with a developmental perspective and strives to support students in age-appropriate ways. This results in programming that anticipates developmental benchmarks. At each school, counselors are active in start-of-the-year programming for students entering the school and continuing as the year progresses. At the high school, counselors meet individually with freshmen at the end of first quarter as well as meeting in the spring to focus on scheduling. Parent/guardian programs are planned to mirror these milestones as well. Weston is fortunate to have excellent wellness programs that include topics pertinent to developmental needs in their classroom curriculum with units on health, well-being, and later, relationships, substance use and mental health. Working hand-in-hand, they are able to address an even fuller range of student needs.

Data What Parents/Guardians of Students (K-12) Say Parents/Guardians were asked which services they felt had been most beneficial to their students in the past or might be in the future. The highest ranking “most important” ones were:

1. Individual academic planning, intervention and support (62%) 2. Providing information to parents/guardians regarding personal/social development, academic

development, career/college planning and other pertinent topics (61%) 3. Individual career and college planning and support (60%) 4. Crisis intervention and responsive services (56%) 5. Individual counseling (48%) 6. Collaboration and consultation with parents/guardians (48%) 7. Collaboration and consultation with school staff (47%)


Counselor Survey (K-12) The survey of counselors, district-wide, included the ability to add open-ended comments. Some of these comments stood out:

➢ All counselors mention they wish they could serve the EL and METCO populations better, and many talk about unmet needs of emotionally impaired students, LGBTQ+, and average students (not Special Education or “high fliers”).

➢ All counselors say that the greatest strength that exists in the program is the counselors themselves, as well as collaboration among counselors, and between counselors and faculty/building administration.

➢ Counselors wish they could be spending more time meeting with students and participating in relevant professional development.

Naviance Senior Exit Surveys Key Findings (High School) Counselors pulled data for three years of graduating seniors (Class of 2016-2018) and found the following trends:

➢ 94.8% felt welcome in the counseling office always/most always.

➢ 90.2% felt their counselor was effective discussing academic issues always/most always.

➢ 95.2% felt their counselor always treated them with dignity, kindness, and respect.

➢ 92.9% felt their counselor was knowledgeable in helping with course selection always/most always.

➢ 89.3% felt their counselor was knowledgeable about different colleges always/most always.

➢ Student quotes:

○ Re: the college process: “both of my parents greatly appreciate the fact that they didn’t have to nag me much.”

○ Re: the college process: “[rather than] having the guidance counselors telling you whether the school is a target, reach or safety solely based off of the Naviance numbers and graphs, but whether or not it is a good fit with the school and its atmosphere. I think the guidance counselor recommendations should be more personal rather than generic, but I think it’s hard to do so when there are so many students.”

○ [The college process at Weston] “was fine for me! In fact, it was much better than my experience with a private college counselor, who put me down a lot.”

○ Re: counseling experience: “I think you guys are great at what you do and people need understand that you are counselor for four grades and have a lot on your plate and will be available as much as you can. Thank you for all that you do. I know it is not easy.”

○ Re: counseling experience: “You guys are always so nice and genuine. All students appreciate the fact that everyone in the guidance department (and I mean EVERYONE) is so friendly at all times. If I were to give you one piece of helpful advice moving forward, it is to try and be more available to students.”

○ Re: counseling experience: “ my counselor was always incredibly helpful with the college process and she was a great person.”

○ Re: counseling experience: “be more available.”


○ Re: counseling experience: ”maybe an online availability/schedule for the counselors.”

○ Re: counseling experience: “I always thought that feedback about course selection was readily available and very helpful when I was choosing classes.”

○ Re: counseling experience: “I loved counseling at WHS, I just think that there needs to be more of a focus on helping kids with emotional issues and mental health.”

○ Re: counseling experience: “It should be more important to have kids focus less on college stuff. Looking back on my our years here, I spent so much of my entire life on college stuff because it was so ingrained in me that that was all that matters. Having gotten into a very good school, looking back on the last four years, I’ve realized how big a waste of time this was.”

○ Re: counseling experience: “I truly feel the guidance department is one of my favorite places in the school. I have enjoyed getting to know all of the different guidance counselors and I have found them endlessly helpful.”

○ Re: counseling experience: “It was strange to have a Counselor in charge of both academic and emotional aspects. I was worried to go to my Counselor with personal issues for fear it could impact his ability to permit my academic plans.”

○ Re: counseling experience: “The counseling services in my experience have definitely been more about academics than emotional support.”

○ Re: counseling experience: “You have lots of resources and great opportunities for students to explore different academic and post-grad options. They are usually well informed and always very supportive. I would feel comfortable confiding in my guidance counselor although I have utilized other resources in the school for this purpose. Sometimes guidance counselors aren’t readily available which is the biggest area of improvement.”

Considerations Not surprisingly, counselors expressed in their survey comments the need for more time to spend with students, as well as additional resources and time to support students in special populations. They hope that as they move into the next stages of the Program Review – outside input and the development of initiatives to improve their work – they find ways to enhance interactions with students and families.

Counselors expressed in their survey a strong desire for additional written policies, protocols and systems to support their work with students, such as academic policies, official student records, responses to absenteeism, etc. They feel that it is important for students and parents to see that decisions and policies are transparent and consistent.

From the student perspective, there was a great deal of positive feedback on the support provided by counselors. The biggest hurdle in the past three years seems to have been counselor availability. As the school moved to a later start schedule, counselors took this into consideration and have striven to schedule as many departmental meetings as possible before students arrive. Anecdotally, and from the student surveys in the self-study, this seems to be improving counselors’ availability for students (see charts below).

For the 2018-2019 academic year, high school counselors switched over from a paper-based calendar to a Google Calendar system as the chief means of enabling both others within the school and the public to schedule meetings with us. Additionally, they employed the “youcanbookme” app to facilitate students making appointments with their school counselors. With the first year almost complete, they are happy to


report the initiative has been a huge success by all accounts, and they envision continuing the same system next year.


Support

Resources Elementary Schools: Each counselor has an office, which includes a desk and a table/chairs for meeting with students. Offices have flexible seating options for meeting with students (i.e. beanbags, comfortable chairs, etc). There is teacher perception that the elementary counselors do not have sufficient resources to effectively do their job. Upon reflection, this perception could be due to the inconsistent demands of crisis

intervention. On any given day, a school counselor could be called to manage or support a student in crisis. Other sorts of crises could include a building-based disruption. When a crisis occurs, it always becomes the priority, and other scheduled appointments will be canceled or shifted. Some of the teacher comments refer to the need for additional support for students who are impacted with significant social/emotional/behavioral needs. This brings into question the need for additional supports for these students.

Middle School: Counselor offices are in a guidance suite, which includes an open space with a desk for the Special Education administrative assistant, storage, and a couch/table area. The space includes a conference room used for meetings, lunch groups, etc. which is shared with Special Education for IEP meetings. The private offices have space for a desk, cabinets, a couch, and a small table with chairs. Guidance Seminars are held in a classroom across from the Guidance suite. High School: Counselor offices are in a guidance suite, which includes the administrative assistant and a room for interns. The private offices have space for a desk, cabinets and 2-3 chairs. A large closet holds a copier, postage machine, storage, and a secure, locking cabinet for tests (SAT, ACT and AP). There is a small table and chairs for students in the open area. The space also holds mailboxes for faculty. Guidance Seminars are held in the PC Lab in another part of the school. There is no dedicated conference room, so meetings are generally scheduled into the Principal’s and Assistant Principal’s conference rooms, and when not available, the Faculty Lounge. Technology: The saying that “we embrace technology but it doesn’t always embrace us” is apropos for many counselors. The student information system, Infinite Campus, is used extensively by secondary school counselors to track data about students life in the schools, including scheduling, student information, attendance, behavior tracking, and grades. The system is not intuitive and it can be difficult to access information easily. Further, its capabilities do not meet the full needs (e.g. inability to use letters


to name schedule blocks at the secondary level which results in confusion for students (and even teacher) and need to create custom reports/interfaces for transcripts). At the high school level, they also rely heavily on technology and web-based platforms as part of the college application process. Though electronic applications have made the process of sending materials smoother in some respects, there have been numerous changes and technical glitches over the past few years that have caused increased stress for both students and counselors. Counselors continually investigate alternatives as they are introduced in the field to determine that best programs for both counselors and students.

Professional Development Weston Public School counselors engage in professional development in a variety of ways. This includes graduate courses, workshops, trainings, memberships in professional organizations and groups, internal and external collaboration, as well as staying current with relevant research and literature as it relates to the field. At the district level counselors meet monthly for clinical consultation with Rob Evans from Human Relations Services (HRS), and the meetings will continue with another clinician upon his retirement. This allows for collaboration on the most complicated student cases. At the secondary level, the counselors also meet bi-monthly with HRS clinicians to problem-solve building-based cases as well as discuss current mental health trends, resources and best practices. Elementary counselors meet regularly with the district psychologist.

Almost all of the counselors have participated in graduate level courses in the past three years. With a mix of online and classroom-based courses, the counselors have explored a wide range of topics relevant to the field of school-based counseling. Topics include: anxiety, depression, trauma/loss, stress management, mindfulness, diversity, ADHD/executive functioning, and bullying/peer conflict. The district’s support of participating in these courses is critical to making sure the counselors continue to engage in relevant meaningful practices. Counselors also are eager to attend conferences and workshops that enhance their work with students, families and colleagues. In the past three years, counselors have attended workshops or trainings in some of the following areas: stress management, school law and policy, substance use, self-harm, 504 policy, supporting LGBTQ students, and cultural awareness.

All counselors feel very strongly that their partnership with HRS is a critical piece to their service model. Access to the services, collaboration and resources that such an established mental health agency can


provide is invaluable. However, given the growing needs of students and families, they seek to continue to build relationships with other agencies both for continued professional support as well as creating pathways for the families they support.

They have two opportunities for direct professional development through Weston Public Schools. The first is during district-assigned professional development days/afternoons. Counselors have sometimes found these programs less relevant, especially historically, as the programs were geared towards the academic needs of classroom teachers, feeling their time would have been better spent focusing on an area relevant to their professional practice. As the district is now focused on the “whole child” including the importance of social-emotional learning, they hope that district-wide professional development days will prove productive for them as well. The second opportunity is participating in summer workshops. This unique option is something that the school counselors find extremely useful and continue to utilize to explore initiatives and professional collaboration.

Collaboration between counselors is another form of professional development, whether simply as common planning time, case review or more formal professional development. There have traditionally been structured times for K-12, 6-12, 6-8 and 9-12 collaboration, but not so for K-5. This is something being incorporated into the district’s comprehensive professional development plan and discussions within Student Services.

At the high school level, counselors include gaining knowledge about colleges, gap years and other postsecondary programs as an essential aspect of professional development. This is reflected in student feedback that indicates that students want counselors to provide more than the analysis of data points from Naviance to counsel students regarding colleges; rather they want help with an assessment of “fit.” Being on a campus to tour, meeting with admissions staff, and interacting with students is invaluable in getting its “sense of place.” Many colleges and college consortiums offer tours for groups of counselors, which are extremely informative, as their presentations are geared to the college counselor community. When possible, counselors try to attend local information session sponsored by colleges. While these do not substitute for an on-site visit, the programs allow counselors to interact with admissions officers and gain a better understanding of the school and the types of students who may find success there.

Another aspect of professional development is supervision and evaluation. Weston developed a distinct evaluation rubric for counselors which reflects the work they do. However, by its very nature, much of a counselors work is done in private, so “walkthroughs” about work with students usually rely on knowledge of a case, presentations by the counselor in IST and meetings to discuss a case on an ongoing basis. As discussed earlier, it will be important to ensure that counselors feel that they are getting sufficient support regarding supervision and evaluation and address any concerns. This fits into a much broader conversation among district, building and department leaders about the topic, and will continue to improve.


Guiding Questions for the External Team At the beginning of the process in summer 2018, the following questions were at the forefront. They remain pertinent as issues related to them arose in the self-study.

1. Strategically, what does the district see as the goal of the counseling program and the role of school counselors?

a. What are the priorities? 2. Within each school, is there an appropriate balance between educational, emotional and career

counseling provided to students? Including, but not limited to: a. Supporting all students (including LGBTQ, EL, METCO, international, “the middle”) b. Incorporating social emotional learning and mindfulness c. Supporting non-traditional pathways (e.g. non-college bound)

3. Are the roles of school counselors clearly defined? a. Coordination/overlap with other positions such as adjustment counselors, administrators,

psychologists, health/wellness, Special Education, BCBA, etc. b. Does the perception of stakeholder groups reflect the scope of their work? c. Advocacy vs. policy; administrative/therapeutic divide; following vs. establishing

protocols d. 504s (and relationship to Special Education, testing)

4. Is the current structural model for the school counseling program optimal to support counselors’ work?

a. Positions, groupings, leadership b. Appropriate professional development, including time and funding c. Evaluation for growth; inherent difficulty in observing work with students

5. What is reasonable and relevant in terms of communication with students and families? a. Methods of outreach, communication (need for advisory group?) b. Impact of technology c. Differing needs at various grade levels

6. What outside forces or issues are impacting counselors’ work, and what do they need to adapt to respond to them? (e.g. increasing absenteeism, declining enrollment, trend to earlier college applications)

The self-study surfaced the following additional question:

7. What resources/supports are needed to support students’ increasing social/emotional/behavioral issues, especially in the elementary schools?


Bibliography American School Counselor Association (2012). The ASCA National Model: A Framework for School Counseling Programs, Third Edition. Alexandria, VA: Author.

American School Counselor Association (2012). ASCA National Model: A Framework for School Counseling Programs; Executive Summary. Retrieved from https://www.schoolcounselor.org/asca/media/asca/ASCA%20National%20Model%20Templates/ANMExecSumm.pdf

National Association for College Admission Counseling (2018). NACAC’s Code of Ethics and Professional Practices. Alexandria, VA: Author.

Social Science Research and Evaluation, Inc. (2017). Summary of Results from the 2016-2017 Weston Youth Risk Assessment: High School Grades 9-12. Burlington, MA: Author.


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